St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-08-27
FISCAL FIGURES.
VASTNESS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS.
Easy Illustrations Which Explain the
Enormous Dimensions of the Treasury
of the Country-Weight of the Surplus III
Vulgar Neutrality-suspicious. Debt.

Vulgar pounds-Interest-bea Debt.
Few persons perhaps who read the ire
quently published reports OF the nscal
operations of the government give any
consideration to the yastness and slgnln-
canoe of the operations. People read OF
the hundreds of millions of gold ana
silver in the treasury, but how few per-
sons have any intelligent idea of what Is
embraced in the ten figures required 10
describe the liabilities and assets of the
government! 1t is only when the aurlt-
erous contents of the treasury vaults are
WEIGHED and measured and placed by the
side of articles and commodities that are
daily handled by the masses that an IN
telligent comprehension can be obtained
nv the people of the financial strength
of the treasury, the great extent OF the
governments fiscal operations. by ret
erence to the latest published state
ment of treasury assets and haolll-
ties, it appears that among the assets
were 1921 ,296,417 in gold, and nearly
s251, 900, 900 in silver, including 4,Ooo,ooo
of trade dollars and fractional coins.
Taking up these 1921 100000 of gold and
placing them on the scales, it is found
that the gold held by the treasury weighs
$40 tons, and, if packed into ordinary
carts, one ton to each cart, 1t Woulo
| make a procession two miles long, allow
ing twenty feet of space for the move
ment of each cart. The weighing OF the
silver produces much more interesting
results. Its weight is 1896 tons. Meas
uring it in carts, as in the case OF the
gold, the silver now held ty the
treasury would require the services
of 1896 horses and carts to transport II,
and would make a procession over
twenty-one miles in length.
The surplus" about which so much is
said in the daily newspapers, amounts to
nearly $47, O0O 900, an increase of $1,000
900 since July l. Counted as gold the
surplus would weigh eighty-six and one
half tons: counted as silver it would
weigh 1885 tons. Each million of gold
adds 1855 pounds to the surplus and each
million of Silver adds $500 pounds. APP
plying cubic measurements to the
treasury gold and silver, and piling the
two metals on Pennsylvania avenue as
cord wood is piled before delivery to the
purchaser, the gold would measure thirty
seven cords and the silver 400 cords, and
both would form a solid wall eight
feet high and four feet broad for a distance
of seven eighths of a mile. Extending
these calculations and comparisons to
the interest bearing debt equally interest
ing results are obtained. The publlc
debt reached the highest point in August,
1865, just twenty-five years ago, "hen II
was So, 3S1 $50, 295. The general reader
will better appreciate the Vastness OF the
sum when informed that it represents
7O156 tons of silver, which would make
a procession of carts that would extend
from Richmond, Va, to a point twelve
miles north of Philadelphia, the distance
it would thus cover being 265 miles. The
interest bearing debt is now, not includ-
ing the Pacific railroad bonds, 1,0Ol,-
976,S5O, showing that the sum paid has
been S1,379, 553, 445, or more than one
half of the total amount, and represent
ing 4O,637 tons of silver dollars,
which would extend 154 miles, if
packed in carts containing one ton
each. Reducing these figures to basis
where they may be intelligently compre-
hended and that the rapidity with which
the government has reduced its bonded
debt may be fully realized by the general
reader, the reduction has been at the
average rate of $G2, 7O6,975 each year,
S. ,225, 5s1 each month, 1914, 1856 each day,
1858 each hour and $3.50 AZ for every
minute of the entire twenty-five years.
Pursuing the calculation to the smallest
dvisible space of time, the bonded debt
of the United States has been decreased
al the rate of two dollars and seven mills
for every second, or for every swing OF
the pendulum, for the entire period from
August 81, 1865, to July 81, 1887. This is
an exhibition of recuperation and ma
teral progress on the part of the country
and Of sterling honesty and integrity on
the part of the government and people
that is without parallel in the worlds
history.